MPPI Claim with Carrington Carr

TauntonGal

I believe I have been mis-sold a mortgage and payment protection scheme insurance and would appreciate some advice.

I arranged a remortgage with a Carrington Carr consultant in November 2002 which included a mortgage protection premium of £3,485 for cover for a 6 year period. When I arranged for the remortgage, I was under the impression that my application would be refused if I did not have a mortgage and payment protection scheme insurance included. I was also advised that I had to have adequate insurance cover for my remortgage to be actually considered.

I now understand that they are not allowed to insist on a borrower taking out a mortgage and payment protection scheme insurance a condition of applying for a remortgage and do not believe being required to take out this policy as part of my remortgage was a fair and reasonable obligation on their part. I requested a full refund of my payment of £3,485 for the mortgage and payment protection scheme insurance, plus accrued interest.

They have replied to say that they have conducted an investigation regarding my complaint within the space of a day(!) and resolved this complaint as it is statue barred. Is there anything further I can do as they say the Financial Ombudsman will not consider this complaint?

dunstonh

I arranged a remortgage with a Carrington Carr consultant in November 2002 which included a mortgage protection premium of £3,485 for cover for a 6 year period.

That is a mis-sale. MPPI should be monthly premium and not single.

I was under the impression that my application would be refused if I did not have a mortgage and payment protection scheme insurance included.

You cant prove that you were told to have it and no complaint via a broker will be upheld on that basis. If it was that easy, then everyone could lie and get refunds. Hence proof would be needed or a failing in another area (like single premium as mentioned)

I was also advised that I had to have adequate insurance cover for my remortgage to be actually considered.

Same as above. No proof, no complaint upheld decision.

I now understand that they are not allowed to insist on a borrower taking out a mortgage and payment protection scheme insurance a condition of applying for a remortgage

That is wrong. A lender is allowed to insist on insurance as a condition of a mortgage. A broker is allowed to tell you that they will not charge fees if you take out insurance through them. Where it is wrong is if they lie that you need it when you dont. However, its near impossible to prove so its not a good complaint reason.

They have replied to say that they have conducted an investigation regarding my complaint within the space of a day(!) and resolved this complaint as it is statue barred. Is there anything further I can do as they say the Financial Ombudsman will not consider this complaint?

I know the investment timebar rules but keep forgetting the insurance ones (mortgage is 2004 and its possible insurance is the same via broker). Hopefully magpiecottage will be along soon and verify that you are barred from complaint.

magpiecottage

No the timebar is incorrect. You have six years from when the event giving rise to the complaint took place (which has passed) or, if later, three years from when you became aware, or ought to have become aware, that you had cause for complaint.

Unfortunately, Carrington Carr is an Appointed Representative of Legal & General and has never been directly regulated by the FSA. This means you cannot complain to FOS.

However, I suggest you contact the Financial Ombudsman Service on 08000234567 or 03001239123 and find out if they subscribed to the GISC code. If they did not and the insurer did then you can complain to the insurer that they breached the code by accepting business from a firm that was not a member and, as a result you have suffered a loss.

I would hazard a guess that the insurer is Legal & General.

Alternatively, you COULD try suing Carrington Carr.

If it is less then £5,000 then you can use the small claims route which would only cost around £500 and you would get it back if you won. You might need help preparing your case (the CAB could probably assist) and would need to turn up at court. You would apply to your local court but Carrington Carr could apply for it to be heard in its local court which I think would be Leicester.

Neither side would get costs awarded unless the court considered that it had acted in bad faith.

TauntonGal

I have only now become aware that this happened to me! It is only as a result of selling my apartment and my new partner seeing this on the old remortgage paperwork that he suggested that I try and reclaim the money as this should not have been done this way.

Carrington Carr replied as follows:

"In relation to the complaint that you have made when your policy was sold on 2 December 2002, it was the General Insurance Standards Council that regulated the sale of MPPI policies. Carrington Carr Home Finance was not a member of GISC. GISC has since disbanded and the FSA has taken over regulation of these products.

When the FSA took over regulatory control on 14 January 2005, Carrington Carr was an appointed representative of Legal & General Partnership Services Limited and therefore any complaints relating to the sales of a MPPI policy prior to this do not fall in the FSA's transitional provisions, and ultimately there is no recourse to the Financial Ombudsman Service and we do not therefore propose to comment on this complaint.

In addition the complaint that you are making regarding the sale of your MPPI is statue barred. Your policy was sold on 2 December 2002 and it has been over six years from this date before you brought the complaint to our attention.

This is our final response letter. I would advise you that if we do not hear from you within eight weeks of the date of this letter that your complaint is to be considered resolved by Carrington Carr."

In view of the above reply, what do you suggest I do?

magpiecottage

TauntonGal wrote: »

In addition the complaint that you are making regarding the sale of your MPPI is statue barred. Your policy was sold on 2 December 2002 and it has been over six years from this date before you brought the complaint to our attention.

They are relying on Section 14A of the Limitation Act 1980 but it is not true that it is statute barred. They are correct that it can be barred six years after the events giving rise to the claim (of negligence) but ONLY if it is also more than three years since you became aware that you had grounds for action against them.

There is also an absolute limit of 15 years (this is because the Law recognises that it is so long ago that a fair hearing is not practicable). The 15 year limit does not apply to you.

Who was the insurer?

TauntonGal

It appears to be D&D Homecare Ltd Mortgage and Payment Protection Scheme with Legal & General and underwritten by NIG. Does that help? If so, what action should I take now?

DD1966

See, now i'm worried about the claim i've put in for MPPI with citifinancial, the original loan was taken out in 2001 and had a premium of nearly £11,000 front loaded onto it! what is the likelyhood of getting anything back? have written to them twice since july this year and they continue to ignore me!!

TauntonGal

I hope you hear back from them soon...I am just wondering what to do about mine. Do I write to Legal & General?

magpiecottage

TauntonGal wrote: »

I hope you hear back from them soon...I am just wondering what to do about mine. Do I write to Legal & General?

Contact FOS and find out if Carrington Carr subscribed to the General Insurance Standards Council's code of practice. Also find out if Legal & General and/or National Insurance Guarantee did.

Once you have the answer, post again.

magpiecottage

DD1966 wrote: »

See, now i'm worried about the claim i've put in for MPPI with citifinancial, the original loan was taken out in 2001 and had a premium of nearly £11,000 front loaded onto it! what is the likelyhood of getting anything back? have written to them twice since july this year and they continue to ignore me!!

It is unlikely that Citifinancial actually sold you the policy although you can now take the matter to FOS.

DD1966

magpiecottage wrote: »

It is unlikely that Citifinancial actually sold you the policy although you can now take the matter to FOS.

They did, we went direct to branch and dealt with them direct! I still have all the paper work relating to the loan! I think they are deliberately ignoring us and hoping we go away!